CS Geoffrey Ruku tells Gachagua to go home and raise grandchildren. Mt Kenya after the outspoken Trade Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku publicly urged former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to retire gracefully to his Mathira home, spend time with his wife Dorcas Rigathi, drink porridge, and focus on raising grandchildren instead of continuing to “disturb the people of Mt Kenya” with political noise.
The blunt remarks came after winning the Mbeere by-election, where his candidate, Leo Wamuthende, won. Ruku, a long-time ally turned fierce critic of Gachagua.
The CS told the impeached former DP to go home, drink porridge with his wife, and raise grandchildren instead of troubling the community with endless political drama.
Ruku’s statement marks the sharpest public rebuke yet from a senior government official in the Mt Kenya region since Gachagua’s dramatic impeachment on October 17, 2025.
The CS, who once served as Gachagua’s campaign coordinator in Nyeri during the 2022 elections, accused the former DP of refusing to accept political reality and instead engaging in daily attacks on President William Ruto and his administration.
“We campaigned together, we ate ugali together, but now he wakes up every morning to abuse the president who elevated him. That is not leadership; that is bitterness,” Ruku declared, drawing cheers from the crowd.
The porridge reference carried a particular sting in Central Kenya culture, where the warm millet drink is traditionally associated with convalescence and old age, a subtle way of telling Gachagua his time in active politics is over.
Dorcas Rigathi, the former Second Lady known for her prayer warrior persona and anti-alcohol crusades, was mentioned by name as the CS appealed for family reconciliation.
Sources close to the Gachagua camp say the remarks have deeply wounded the family, with one aide describing them as “the ultimate betrayal from someone who ate at our table.”
The former DP has insisted he remains the region’s undisputed kingpin and vowed to tour every corner of the mountain until “the voice of the people is heard in State House.”
Political analysts see Ruku’s outburst as part of a broader government strategy to isolate Gachagua and install more compliant leaders ahead of the 2027 elections.
Women selling vegetables openly laughed about the porridge line, with one trader joking, “If Rigathi drinks porridge every day, maybe he will calm down and stop shouting on TV.”
As the war of words escalates, one thing is clear: the once-unshakeable Gachagua political machine is fracturing. With Ruku’s public call for retirement echoing across tea farms and church compounds, the former Deputy President faces the toughest question of his career: whether to heed the advice to go home, embrace family life, and let a new generation lead Mt Kenya, or double down on confrontation in what could become a bitter, protracted political twilight.
